Chapter 3 "Through the Eyes of the Tiger"
As she gazed at the hibernating city, Crystal wiped a hidden tear from her eye. "Devils NEVER cry…" she muttered to herself. She thought she heard a noise coming from the bushes behind her, causing her reflexive routine of pulling out her whip so it could snap the bushes to take action. She saw a bright red jacket peeking through the bushes. "Hmph. You're going to have to do better than that, Dante!"
"Fine, you caught me. What are you doing alone up here by yourself? This is where most of my missions end!" Dante said, taking a seat next to Crystal on the dewy grass.
"I needed to clear my head," she said making up a partial lie. "Whenever I miss my father, I go outside and look at his constellation. After all, he is up there. You know, Orion?"
"Nah, I never had a taste for stars. Where is he?" he said, gesturing to the sky.
"He's right there," she held her face close to his and tried to aim for the constellation. "My mother used to tell me stories and make up constellations to go along with them. She was such a great astrologer. She knew just about everything about the sky. She taught me everything I know about it." She pulled her knees to her chest and hid her face in them.
"Aw, come on! Whatever happened to 'Devils never cry'?"
"I'm not crying! I'm just…trying to remember what he felt like. Smelled like. Sounded like. I haven't seen my father in do long."
"Welcome to the club," Dante joked, offering out a hand to shake. She didn't react.
"That's easy for you to say! You still have a brother!" Crystal yelled, getting up and glaring at him.
"Yeah, I do. But I don't get along with him like you might think!" Dante yelled back as he looked her dead-on in the eyes. "He isn't at all like family…"
"Really? Then what is he?" Crystal said through clenched teeth, daring him to answer.
"He's… well, he's my twin brother," Dante calmly stated, then sat back down.
"You just don't understand. I watched both my father and my sister die right before my eyes. It hurts. Just knowing that if I would have been just a little bit smarter then, I could have saved them." Crystal said, dropping herself back onto the ground.
"You really think that you could have saved them?" Dante asked trying to make a point.
"Well, yeah. If I would have known more about my powers, I actually would have been able to at least do something that could have prevented…" she paused. "…It from happening."
"You're right. I should be happy that I still have my brother. There is one thing you need to understand. My brother isn't exactly what you would call a good guy. He tries to get my father's power and use it to take over the demon world."
"Well, I guess I'll give you that." Crystal retorted. "I'm going to go look for more demons to get my mind off this mess," She said, getting up, and then pointed to the immense Tower-of-Pisa-like building towering over the rest of the city.
"I'll meet you down there later. Just don't go and get yourself killed."
"Nice encouragement, Dante!" Crystal sarcastically yelled as she ran down the hill and headed into the large almost rundown town.